For releases of physical media, the release artist will be sourced from the front cover.

For releases of physical media, the release artist will be sourced from the front cover.

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When a physical cover is not available, find the featured composers and artists at a reliable online source.

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When a physical cover is not available, find the featured writers and performers at a reliable online source.

*The spine can be used if it should happen to contain more detail than the front cover

*The spine can be used if it should happen to contain more detail than the front cover

Line 15:

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==Featured Release Artists==

==Featured Release Artists==

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The [[Release Artist]] of a classical Release should include the composer(s) and performers featured on the front cover (except when "Various Artists" is used, see below). Use only composers and performers who are featured on the front cover (or the spine); don't add artists from the back cover or the inside of the booklet or other places.

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The [[Release Artist]] of a classical Release should include the writers (composers, lyricists, librettists) and performers featured on the front cover (except when "Various Artists" is used, see below). Use only writers and performers who are featured on the front cover (or the spine); don't add artists from the back cover or the inside of the booklet or other places.

===Single artist===

===Single artist===

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If there is only one name on the front cover. This is uncommon for classical releases, usually the composer and a couple of performers will be listed.

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If there is only one name on the front cover. This is uncommon for classical releases (usually the composer and a couple of performers will be listed), but sometimes is seen on solo recitals or composer anthologies.

===Multiple artists===

===Multiple artists===

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Use a comma to separate names. If the credits contain both composers and performers, begin with the composers. Use a semicolon to separate composers from performers.<br/>

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Use a comma to separate names. If the credits contain both writers and performers, begin with the writers. Use a semicolon to separate writers from performers.<br/>

====Names that are not prominently featured====

====Names that are not prominently featured====

Line 27:

Line 27:

===Various Artists===

===Various Artists===

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There are some releases that don't really have any featured artists. For example there are classical "samplers", often released by record labels or newspapers. Other examples include compilation albums with names like "Classics for Relaxing": these often have no artist credits at all. In these cases, use the special artist [http://musicbrainz.org/artist/89ad4ac3-39f7-470e-963a-56509c546377 Various Artists].

+

There are some releases that don't really have any featured artists. For example there are classical "samplers", often released by record labels or newspapers. Other examples include compilation albums with names like "Classics for Relaxing": these often have no artist credits at all. In these cases, use the special artist [[artist:89ad4ac3-39f7-470e-963a-56509c546377|Various Artists]].

When editing a classic release one often faces quite a few tracks sharing the the same composer, performer, and performance date. Here are some tips on how to perform several edits on the recordings and their relationships without opening every recording individually and performing the edits there:

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===Working on releases===

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1. '''release - Edit relationships''' In the toolbar on the right hand side, select "Edit relationships". This will give you a batch editor. Just tick the recordings you want to edit, then click one of the "Batch-add ..." links in the top. Mind saving your changes be clicking "Enter Edit" at the bottom.

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===Working on recordings===

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1. '''recording - artist relationships - adding attributes''' --- This is easy with the new relationship editor though the function is somewhat hidden. (You must re-add the the existing relationship with the attributes added.)

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2. '''recording - work relationships - adding attributes''' --- AFAIK not possible without userscripts. [http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/128593 Bitmap's MusicBrainz: Relate recordings to works from a release] helpes a lot. With the userscript you are able to open the ''recording - work'' relationships on a single page then you can for example add performance dates.

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3. '''artist credits of the recordings''' --- At the moment there seams to be no solution. Do you have any idea? IMHO this type of batch edit is very important with the new classical style guide where recordings should be credited to performers though existing recordings are credited to composers and newly created recordings (from the release editor) too. I think that also these edits should be available in the relationship editor.

Sources

Physical Media

For releases of physical media, the release artist will be sourced from the front cover.
When a physical cover is not available, find the featured writers and performers at a reliable online source.

The spine can be used if it should happen to contain more detail than the front cover

Digital media

Preferably from the label's page or other official source. Avoid using information from resellers.

Featured Release Artists

The Release Artist of a classical Release should include the writers (composers, lyricists, librettists) and performers featured on the front cover (except when "Various Artists" is used, see below). Use only writers and performers who are featured on the front cover (or the spine); don't add artists from the back cover or the inside of the booklet or other places.

Single artist

If there is only one name on the front cover. This is uncommon for classical releases (usually the composer and a couple of performers will be listed), but sometimes is seen on solo recitals or composer anthologies.

Multiple artists

Use a comma to separate names. If the credits contain both writers and performers, begin with the writers. Use a semicolon to separate writers from performers.

Names that are not prominently featured

If there is a long list of names on the cover, only the most prominently featured names need to be included. For example when a single performer (or group) performs works from many different composers, or vice-versa. See below for information about when to use "Various Artists".

Various Artists

There are some releases that don't really have any featured artists. For example there are classical "samplers", often released by record labels or newspapers. Other examples include compilation albums with names like "Classics for Relaxing": these often have no artist credits at all. In these cases, use the special artist Various Artists.

Release Groups

Will in many cases have the same name and artists as the release. If the featured artists differs between different releases in the same release group, try to find the most used version. If that fails, use the earliest release.